Profiles of women who have suffered occupational accidents in cleaning: perceived health, psychosocial risks, and personality variables

• Published in: International archives of occupational and environmental health Vol. 96; no. 2; pp. 331 - 340
• Main Authors: Fernández-Suárez, Iván, López-Goñi, José J., Haro, Begoña
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.03.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Accidents; Accidents, Occupational; Cleaning; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental Health; Female; Health risks; Health Status; Humans; Occupational accidents; Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine; Occupational safety; Original; Original Article; Perception; Perceptions; Personality; Rehabilitation; Psychosocial risk; Accident rate; Health perception; Risk behaviour; Working women
• ISSN: 0340-0131; 1432-1246
• DOI: 10.1007/s00420-022-01927-8

Purpose The main goal was to identify the variables (sociodemographic, work, psychosocial, perceived health, and personality) associated with occupational accidents suffered in the past by women in the cleaning sector. Methods A sample of 455 women was evaluated. Results A total of 23.5% of the workers ( n  = 107) had suffered an occupational accident with medical leave. In general, women who had suffered some accident in their life had a worse situation in all areas evaluated. Two subsamples of women had a greater association with accidents. Specifically, the presence of work accidents was 15.9 times higher among those who presented a worse perception of their physical effort and a greater tendency towards risky behaviours and 13.5 times higher among those who had a moderate perception of physical exertion and a disability. Conclusion In general, the characteristics of female workers were found to be associated with different accident rates. Preventive actions should be designed individually.